Category Archives: Indirect Techniques

Inducing sleep paralysis is best begun with the easiest, most accessible methods: indirect techniques, which are conscious actions performed upon awakening from sleep.

A specific universal technique that suits every practitioner is a myth since individuals differ widely in personality, psychology, and learning speed. However, there is a relatively easy universal algorithm, or procedure, that accounts for the characteristics of each person and allows for the most rational, effective way to attain the initial sleep paralysis. This algorithm encompasses cyclic practicing of the indirect techniques covered in this chapter. Without exception, these techniques – despite their varying degrees of difficulty – are suitable for every practitioner who wishes to experience sleep paralysis.

Results can be expected immediately following the first few attempts; however, to achieve measurable results, an average of five daily, conscious attempts must be made. Making more than five attempts over the course of a day is fine, too. There is nothing difficult to understand about performing the techniques since they are clearly laid out and based on real internal processes. Remarkably, due to correctly practiced indirect techniques, more than half of students at the live school attain sleep paralysis after only two days.

Primary Indirect Techniques for Inducing Sleep Paralysis

Nota Bene! The techniques described below are the simple components of indirect technique cycles. Implementing each technique’s description is far from effective. Of the list given below, it behooves the individual practitioner to choose the most comprehensible and interesting techniques, then actively study and apply the instructions for use.

OBSERVING IMAGES

Testing Individual Effectiveness

Immediately after waking from sleep, remain motionless, eyes closed. Observe the blank space behind the eyes for 3 to 5 seconds and try to locate recognizable pictures, images, or symbols. If nothing appears during this exercise, the technique should be substituted. If something appears, continue to passively observe the images. Meanwhile, the images will become increasingly realistic, literally enveloping the practitioner. Do not aggressively examine the details of the image, or it will vanish or change. The image should be experienced as a panorama, taking everything in. Observe the images as long as the quality and realism increases. Doing so yields two possible results: the practitioner becomes part of the surroundings, and has achieved sleep paralysis, or the image becomes borderline or absolutely realistic, and separation from the physical body is possible.

Training

To train the use of this technique, lie down in the dark, eyes closed, and observe the blackness for several minutes, identifying any specific images that may arise from simple spots or floaters, and then gradually transition to whole pictures, scenes, or scenarios. With practice, this technique is very easy and straightforward. A common mistake made during practice of this technique is when the practitioner aggressively attempts to conjure images versus passively observing what is naturally presented.

PHANTOM WIGGLING (MOVEMENT)

Testing Individual Effectiveness

Immediately after waking from sleep, remain motionless, eyes closed. Try to wiggle a part of the body for 3 to 5 seconds, but without using any muscles. If nothing moves during the attempt, try a different technique. If a sensation of wiggling occurs, even in the slightest, continue to employ the technique, striving to increase the range of movement as much as possible. This technique should be performed very aggressively, not passively. As soon as the range of movement nears or exceeds four inches – which may take just several seconds – the following situations may arise: one momentarily finds oneself somehow in sleep paralysis, or the wiggled part of the body begins to move freely. The occurrence of movement during practice of this technique allows the practitioner to transition to a separation technique and attempt to leave the body.

While practicing phantom wiggling, strong vibrations may occur, amid which separation may be attempted. Sounds also often arise, allowing the opportunity to practice listening in, which can lead to sleep paralysis entrance.

The phantom wiggling technique is not meant to produce an imagined movement by a phantom body. The point of the technique is to attempt the movement of a physical body part without using muscular action. That is, the focus should rest upon an internal intention of movement without physical action. When the sensation occurs, it differs little from its real counterpart and is often accompanied by heaviness and resistance. Generally, there is very little range of movement at first, but with concentrated effort the range of movement noticeably increases.

It does not matter which part of the body is used to exercise phantom movement. It may be the whole body or just one finger. Neither is the speed of the movement important. Increased range of perceived movement is the aim of the technique.

Training

To train the technique of phantom wiggling, relax a hand for several minutes while lying down, eyes closed. Then, aggressively envision the following hand movements, without moving any muscles, for two to three minutes each: rotating, up-down, left-right, extending the fingers and drawing the fingers together, clenching and unclenching a fist. No sensations will occur at first. Gradually, the sensation of muscular action will become so apparent that the perceived movement will be indistinguishable from real movement. During the first training attempts, practitioners are often tempted to open their eyes to see if actual movement is occurring – that’s how real the sensation feels.

LISTENING IN

Testing Individual Effectiveness

Immediately after waking from sleep, remain motionless, eyes closed. Try to listen to noise in your head. Do this for 3 to 5 seconds without moving and without opening the eyes. If nothing happens during this period of time, switch to another technique. If any sounds like buzzing, humming, raving, hissing, whistling, tinkling, or melodies occur, listen attentively. With results, the sound will increase in volume. Listen in as long as there is some dynamism in the volume of the sound. When the sound stops, or the noise becomes loud enough, a separation technique may be attempted. Sometimes, the noise itself throws one into sleep paralysis while listening. At a certain stage, sounds may be extremely loud and have even been described as comparable to the roar of a jet-engine.

The action of listening in consists of actively and attentively exploring a sound, the whole of its tonality and range, and how it reacts to the listener.

There is an optional technique known as forced listening in, where it is simply necessary to strongly want to hear noise, and meanwhile make intuitive internal efforts, which, as a rule, are correct. Performed correctly, forced sounds will intensify the same way as those perceived with the standard listening in technique.

Training

In order to practice listening in, lie down in a silent place, eyes closed, and listen for sounds originating in the head. These attempts are usually crowned with success within several minutes of trying, and one starts to hear that noise that absolutely everyone has within. One simply has to know how to tune in to it.

ROTATION

Testing Individual Effectiveness

Immediately after waking from sleep, remain motionless, eyes closed. Imagine the physical body is rotating along an axis for 5 to 10 seconds. If no unusual sensations occur, try another technique. If vibrations occur during rotation or the movement suddenly feels realistic, then continue the rotation technique as long as there is progress in the sensation’s development. There are several possible outcomes when rotation is practiced. The imagined rotation is replaced by a very real sensation of rotating along an imagined axis. When this occurs, a practitioner may easily leave the body. The other outcome is the sudden presence of strong vibrations or loud sounds, amid which separation from the body is possible. During rotation, separation has been known to spontaneously occur and the practitioner induces sleep paralysis.

Training

To practice rotation, imagine revolving around the head-to-foot axis for several minutes while lying down, eyes closed. It is not necessary to focus on the visual effects of rotation or minute sensations in the body. The key factor is the vestibular sensation that arises from internal rotation. As a rule, many practitioners experience difficulty performing full rotation. One person may be limited to 90 degrees of movement where another experiences 180 degrees. With consistent, correct practice, full 360 degree rotation will occur.

FORCED FALLING ASLEEP

Testing Individual Effectiveness

Immediately after waking from sleep, remain motionless, eyes closed. Picture a swift, compulsory fall into sleep for 5 to 10 seconds, and then return to wakefulness, followed by an aggressive attempt at separating from the physical body. Generally, after performing this technique, the practitioner’s state of mind quickly transitions between different states of brain. Strong vibrations often occur when emerging from this ”pseudo-sleep”, where the likelihood of separation from the body is increased, accompanied the opportunity to practice other techniques. Resist actually falling asleep during this exercise.

In essence, forced falling asleep is a trick on the mind designed to take advantage of the brain’s reflexive responses to actions that immediately induce semi-conscious states that allow easy entrance into sleep paralysis. Employing it is especially effective upon an extremely alert awakening, or after a movement is unintentionally made upon awakening.

Forced sleep is quite simple. It requires a cessation of internal dialogue, shifting mental focus away from external stimuli, and a strong desire for a quick reentrance to the sleeping state followed by renewed wakefulness after several seconds. In order to understand how this is done, it is sufficient to recall how one had urgently made oneself fall asleep before, or how one had fallen asleep after having been exhausted, or after a long period of sleep deprivation.

A common mistake in practice occurs when people fall asleep after attempting the technique, forgetting the necessary desire to quickly return to consciousness.

Selecting the Right Techniques

If you’re still interested in how to induce sleep paralysis, the next step to mastering indirect techniques is choosing the right techniques that suit individual predispositions. There is no point in going for one technique or another only because they look interesting and because someone wrote a lot or spoke a lot about them. The choice should be based strictly upon what suits an individual practitioner.

Out of all of the enumerated primary indirect techniques, practically only straining the brain works easily and quickly for 95% of practitioners. All other techniques work immediately for only about 25% to 50% of practitioners during initial training. However, after several training sessions, each technique yields results for 75% of engaged practitioners.

One way or another, every practitioner should identify a certain set of techniques that works best. A set should consist of no less than three techniques; four or five is even better to allow more options and practical combinations. Non-working techniques should not be discarded wholesale by the individual because they afford an opportunity to achieve success through new, previously unresponsive experiences.

To ensure the correct selection of techniques, each should be separately practiced over a period of at least three days. To this end, one should experiment with each of the primary techniques for 2 to 10 minutes before falling asleep, or even during the day. It is good to choose at least one secondary technique practice. This regimen allows a precise determination of the techniques that will yield the best results for the practitioner. During the process of selecting personalized techniques, a practitioner learns and retains the techniques in an intimate, personal way, which positively affects how techniques are used during critical moments.

It is worth noting that the final selection of techniques should be varied. For example, choosing both straining the brain and straining the body without using muscles is pointless because they are practically one and the same. More often than not, they will both either work or not work. This is why techniques should involve various types of sensory perception: visual, audio, kinesthetic, vestibular, imaginary sense perception, and internal strain. Remember that priorities and goals change with time, and that a technique that fell flat during initial attempts may unexpectedly prove valuable later on. Be flexible. No set of techniques should be carved in stone. In fact, the set may change several times over the first few weeks as the practitioner discovers what produces the best individual results.

Separation Techniques

Let us begin with a totally shocking fact: during one-third of successful indirect entries into sleep paralysis, it is not necessary to perform any specific techniques, as separation techniques are immediately successful. This has been statistically proven at School of Out-of-Body Travel seminars and in the analyses of other sources. Conversely, an incorrect understanding of separation techniques may lead to undesirable consequences. It is possible for a practitioner to induce sleep paralysis and be unable to separate from the body. Therefore, it is very important to understand how separation techniques work since they are often a key to success.

At times a practitioner may only need to think about separation and it happens. This is a rarity, which explains the existence of a whole series of auxiliary techniques. The most important separation techniques are rolling out, getting up, climbing out, and levitation.

ROLLING OUT

While awakening, attempt to roll over to the edge of the bed or the wall without using any muscles. Don’t worry about falling out of bed, hitting the wall, or be concerned with the details of how this technique should feel. Just roll.

GETTING UP

Upon awakening, attempt to get out of bed without physical exertion. This should be performed in a way that is most comfortable for the practitioner.

CLIMBING OUT

While awakening, try to climb out of the body without using any muscles. This technique generally comes to mind when a partial separation has been achieved through the use of other techniques, or one part of the body has completely separated.

LEVITATION

Upon awakening, attempt to levitate upward, parallel to the bed. While attempting to levitate, do not wonder how it should be accomplished; everyone intuitively knows how to levitate from their experiences in dreams.

FALLING OUT

Practically the same as levitation: upon awakening, try to sink down through the bed.

PULLING OUT

Here, upon awakening, try to exit the body through the head, as if escaping from a lidded cocoon.

BACKWARDS ROLL

After awakening, try to perform a backwards somersault over the head without using any physical muscles.

BULGE THE EYES

Upon awakening, bulge out or widen the eyes without opening them. Frontal movement toward separation may result.

Separation techniques are united by a singular idea: nothing should be imagined, movement should be attempted without the use of physical muscles. The techniques produce the same sensations of movement felt in real life. If nothing happens immediately after trying, then the technique is not going to work, though it may deliver results at a later time. A practitioner will instantly be able to recognize if the technique has worked. However, people are often unprepared for the realness of the sensations and think that they are making a physical movement instead of realizing that a part or all of the body has separated. After this unfortunate failure, careful analysis helps to understand what happened and plan for a successful retry.

If separation was incomplete or took place with some difficulty, this is a signal that the technique is being performed correctly. Strength and aggressive effort are required from this point to achieve complete separation. For example, if some movement began and then stopped after having made some progress, then one should go back and move even harder once again in the same direction.

In order to practice separation techniques, lie down with the eyes closed and attempt all of them over the course of several minutes. Separation has likely been accomplished if no muscles twitch or strain and a sensation of movement occurs. There will be a strong, almost physically palpable internal effort to perform a movement. Naturally, no physical movement actually occurs and the practitioner remains prone and immobile; however, at the right moment, these actions will lead to an easy entrance into sleep paralysis.

The Best Time to Induce Sleep Paralysis

The key to practice is the quantity and quality of attempts made that hone a practitioner’s skills. There are several windows of time best suited for employing indirect techniques.

To begin, it should be stated that sleep follows a cyclical pattern. We awaken every hour-and-a-half and then quickly fall asleep again, which gives rise to sleep cycles. Furthermore, we experience two primary stages of sleep: rapid eye movement (REM) sleep, and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep. NREM sleep includes many internal stages. The more we sleep, the less the body needs deep NREM sleep, and the more time we spend in REM sleep. Sleep paralysis is most likely to occur during REM sleep.

The best way to implement indirect techniques is by the deferred method. The aim of the method is to interrupt a sleep cycle during its final stage and then disrupt it again after falling back to sleep, which makes sleep light during the rest of the sleep cycle. Sleep accompanied by frequent interruptions can be put to productive uses.

For example, if a practitioner (let’s call him Jack) goes to sleep at midnight, then Jack should set an alarm for 6 o’clock in the morning. Upon awakening, Jack should engage in some sort of physical activity, like going to the bathroom, getting a drink of water, or reading a few pages of this book. Afterward, Jack should go back to bed thinking about how, within the next two to four hours, he will wake up multiple times and make an attempt to induce sleep paralysis during each awakening.

If Jack goes to bed earlier, then his alarm clock should be set back by that amount of time, since six hours of initial sleep is the optimal length of time. If Jack sleeps less than six hours, then the second half of his night’s sleep will be too deep. If Jack sleeps longer than six hours, then there will be little time remaining for attempts, or Jack may not even be able to fall asleep.

If a practitioner naturally wakes up in a forceful manner, it will be difficult to regain sleep. Thus, it will not be necessary for the practitioner to get out of bed with the aid of an alarm. The practitioner should attempt to go right back to sleep.

Naturally, the deferred method is most applicable in cases where it is possible to sleep as long as a practitioner desires, without having to wake up early. Not everyone enjoys such luxury on a daily basis, but nearly everyone has days off when time may be set aside to practice the deferred method. It is in large measure due to the deferred method that classroom courses at the School of Out-of-Body Travel allow up to half of class participants to induce sleep paralysis in the course of a single weekend!

The second most effective window of time to induce sleep paralysis is ordinary morning awakening. This generally occurs during light slumber following a full night’s sleep.

Another effective time to practice indirect techniques is after awakening from a daytime nap. Once again, this type of sleep will be light and short, which provides the body needed rest while allowing memory and intention to be kept intact through the moment of awakening. Again, not everyone has the luxury of taking daytime naps, but if such a chance arises, then it would be very beneficial to take advantage of the opportunity.

Nighttime awakenings are the least effective times for experimentation because the brain still requires a lot of deep sleep at this time. Awakening at night, the mind is quite weak and hardly capable of any effort. Even if some results are observed, awakening often ends with quickly falling back asleep. This is not to say that normal practice of sleep paralysis cannot occur at night; it just won’t be as effective as at other times. The nighttime option is best for those who lack an opportunity to use other windows of time for practicing sleep paralysis.

Understand that we awaken at night every 90 minutes, which is why a minimum of four awakenings is almost guaranteed when sleeping, even for just six hours. When the practitioner knows about this and strives to seize those moments, with time he will actually seize them and take advantage of them.

Conscious Awakening

Conscious awakening is waking up with a particular thought in mind; ideally, a thought about indirect techniques. In order to start using indirect techniques upon awakening, it is not sufficient to have a cursory knowledge of the techniques to be used when waking. Due to the peculiarities of the human mind and its habits, it is not always easy when waking to recall any particular motive or idea. The goal of conscious awakening is to practice instant action without being idle after waking up.

This is not difficult at all for approximately 25% of the population. However, for the other three-quarters of the population, this is an difficult barrier to entry that can even seem insurmountable. If such thoughts arise, one should simply understand that this cannot be so, and that persistent attempts and training are the key solution.

The reasons why people are unable to remember inducing sleep paralysis upon awakening are: not being in the habit of immediately doing anything upon awakening, a desire to sleep longer, a desire to go to the bathroom, being thirsty, a desire to suddenly start solving day-to-day problems, and so on.

Conscious awakening with the intent of attempting an indirect technique should be a practitioner’s primary goal, which should be pursued at every cost. The speed at which sleep paralysis is learned and experienced depends on this.

There are several effective tricks to learning conscious awakening:

Intention upon falling asleep: This is the very important to successfully achieving conscious awakening. A very clear scientific fact has been proven by somnologists (scientists who study sleep): upon awakening, people usually think about what they had been thinking about before falling asleep. This phenomenon is easy to observe if the sleeper is experience a serious life problem; they fall asleep with the problem and wake with it. So, in a case like this, if difficulties at the front of the mind are replaced with a desire to practice sleep paralysis, this will produce the desired effect. It is not necessary to think solely about conscious awakening while falling asleep. It is sufficient to simply affirm the intention clearly and distinctly, even state the intention out loud. Practicing these types of conscious actions while entering sleep will do much to promote the success of indirect techniques upon awakening.

General intent: The more clearly a practitioner concentrates on the importance and necessity of waking up and immediately remembering to practice the techniques, the more solid the intent will become, and the more likely the process will fulfill its role and actually lead to results.

Affirming desires: Sometimes an internal intention is simply not enough for some people, or they are unable to properly affirm one by virtue of individual characteristics. In this case, an affirmation of desires should be introduced at the physical level. This could be in the form of a note with a description of a goal placed next to the bed, under one’s pillow, or hung on the wall. It could be a conversation with friends or family about the particular desire, or by repeatedly vocalizing the actions that need to be performed upon awakening. It could even be an entry in a diary, blog, or texting on a mobile phone.

Analyzing unsuccessful awakenings. Analyzing unsuccessful attempts at conscious awakening is extremely important. When remembering the failed attempt after several minutes, several hours, or even later in the day, focus on it and resolve to succeed during the next attempt. Deep exploration of the failure is highly effective and practical since the practitioner is learning what works, what doesn’t work, and making healthy resolutions toward success.

Creating motivation: The greater the desire to induce sleep paralysis to accomplish a goal there, the quicker successful conscious awakening is achieved. Motivation is be created by a great desire to do or experience something in sleep paralysis. In general, previous visits to sleep paralysis are great motivation, but an uninitiated person does not know it and will need something to which they can relate. For some, this could be a childhood dream of flying to Mars, for others it could be the opportunity to see a loved one who has passed away, for another it could be the chance to obtain specific information, or influence the course of a physical illness, and so forth.

Aside from natural methods to achieve conscious awaking, there are various devices and tools that facilitate a measure of success. These is covered in the section describing non-autonomous ways of inducing sleep paralysis.

The best moment for conscious awakening is while exiting a dream. This is the most effective and productive time to attempt separation or performing the techniques. At this moment, physical awareness of the body is at a minimum. Awareness at the very end of a dream often occurs after nightmares, painful experiences in the dream, falling dreams – any dream that causes a sudden awakening.

With time, one should develop a reflex that enables one to perform planned actions at the moment of awakening, but when consciousness itself has not yet had time to return. This type of reflex is highly beneficial to seizing the most fruitful of opportunities to enter sleep paralysis.

Due to various psychological and physiological factors, it is not possible for every person to achieve conscious awakening after every sleep cycle. Thus, there is no point in becoming upset if conscious awakening does not occur every time. Experiencing only 2 to 3 awakenings per day is normal; this is sufficient enough to attempt sleep paralysis entrance 2 to 5 times per week when practiced daily.

It is not worth getting carried away with an excessive number of attempts. During the School’s courses, it has been noted that doing 10 conscious awakenings or more (some students try 20 or even 30) over the course of one night and morning rarely yields results. This is due to the fact that if one sets oneself a goal that is desired so much that its realization breaks the natural rhythms of the body, one deprives oneself of the intermediate, transitional states that make sleep paralysis effective. A practitioner may also quickly become emotionally exhausted from the large number of attempts and be unable to push limits in the right direction. The upside is that one will simply tire out. If that starts to happen, it is better to calm down and try to approach the matter in a more relaxed manner, evenly and gradually.

Awakening Without Moving

Alongside remembering sleep paralysis immediately upon waking, another important requirement is awakening without moving, which is difficult since many people wake up and move. Upon awakening, scratching, stretching, opening the eyes, and listening to real sounds should be avoided. Any real movement or perception will very quickly disintegrate the intermediate state and introduce reality, the activation of the mind and its connection to the sensory organs.

At first, awakening without moving seems difficult or even impossible. However, it has been proven that this is remedied for through active attempts and the desire to achieve set goals. People often claim that they cannot awaken without moving, that it’s an impossible experience. However, after several attempts, it will happen, and it will occur more and more frequently with practice.

Thus, if there is difficulty in awakening without movement, do not despair, just keep trying. Sooner or later, the body will yield to the practice, and everything will happen smoothly.

Awakening without moving is very important because, for the majority of people, experiments with sleep paralysis are not possible except in the first waking moments where waking without moving sets the stage for successful indirect technique cycles. Often, a practitioner will make 10 unsuccessful attempts and move while awakening. Once the practitioner learns to consistently wake calmly and gradually, success quickly follows.

However, if an awakening is conscious, but with movement, that does not mean that the practitioner cannot immediately make an attempt to fall into sleep paralysis. Such attempts, although they will be about 5 times less effective than usual, should nevertheless be made Any opportunity to practice while waking should not be wasted. It must only be kept in mind that one must first neutralize the effects of the movement in order to once again fall into an intermediate state. In the case of movement, it is extremely helpful to begin practice with forced falling asleep. Listening in also works well, as does observing images and phantom wiggling, each performed passively for 5-15 seconds, instead of the standard duration of 3 to 5 seconds. After performing these, cycling may begin.

Awakening without movement, despite all its importance, is not a goal in and of itself, and also not worth suffering over. When awakening, if there is great discomfort, something itches, a need to swallow arises, or any manner of natural reflex, it is better to deal with it and then act according to practices recommended when movement upon awakening happens.

Not all movements upon awakening are real and, if only for this reason alone, when movement occurs, indirect techniques should follow.

False sensations occur in widely diverse ways. People often do not understand what is going on with them without having experienced sleep paralysis. For example, a person may think they are scratching their ear with their physical hand when they are really using a phantom hand. A person may hear pseudo-sounds in the room, on the street, or at the neighbor’s without noting anything unusual. Or, a person may look around the room without knowing that their eyes are actually closed. If a practitioner recognizes such moments for what they are, they may immediately try to separate from the body.

How to Induce Sleep Paralysis – Step-by-Step Instruction

Now, a specific algorithm of action for indirect techniques will be presented. Following this algorithm promises quick and practical results.

Algorithm of Action upon Awakening:

1. Testing Separation Techniques within 5 Seconds

Like the previous observation of separation techniques, a third of successful attempts with indirect techniques yield immediate success upon the attempt of a separation technique due to the fact that the first seconds after waking up are the most useful for inducing sleep paralysis. The less time that has elapsed after awakening, the better. Conversely, if one lies down expecting something to happen, chances quickly dissipate.

Thus, upon awakening, preferably without first moving, a practitioner should immediately try various separation techniques, like rolling out, getting up, or levitation. If a technique suddenly started to yield results for approximately for 5 seconds, then separation from the body should be attempted. Sometimes inertia, difficulty, or a barrier will arise during a separation attempt. No attention should be given to these problems. Instead, resolve to separate – decidedly and aggressively climb out of the body.

Keep in mind that trying to immediately separate upon awakening is a skill of the utmost importance; one that is worth honing from the very beginning, never forgotten.

2. The Cycle of Indirect Techniques to Use if One is Unable to Separate

If separation does not occur after several seconds, it most likely means that separation will not occur, regardless of elapsed time in effort. This is where the practitioner must resort to other techniques.

The practitioner should already have chosen a minimum of three primary or secondary techniques that suit a practical repertoire. Here is where the techniques are put into action.

Nota Bene! In order to give a specific example, we will examine the use of three specific techniques, which should be replaced with a tested and chosen set of techniques. The following operational techniques have been used as examples: observing images (a), phantom wiggling (b), and listening in (c).

After an unsuccessful attempt at separating, the practitioner immediately starts observing the void behind the eyes. If images begin to appear within 3 to 5 seconds, observation should continue without scrutinizing the images in detail, or the image will evaporate. As a result of this action, the image will quickly become more and more realistic and colorful, engulfing the practitioner. If everything comes together correctly, a sudden translocation into the picture will occur, or, when the picture becomes very realistic, attempt to separate from the body. If nothing happens after 3 to 5 seconds, then the practitioner should transition to the technique of phantom wiggling.

For 3 to 5 seconds, the practitioner quickly searches the entire body for a part that can be wiggled. Or, the entire period of time is spent in an attempt to wiggle a specific body part: a finger, hand, or leg. If the desired effect occurs, then the practitioner should continue with the technique and achieve the maximum possible range of movement. During this process, a number of things can happen, including spontaneous separation, a successful separation attempt, free movement of the wiggled part, or the presence of sound or vibrations. All of these events are of great advantage. If nothing wiggles over the course of 3 to 5 seconds, then the practitioner should move on to listening in.

The practitioner should try to detect an internal sound. If the sound is there, listen and try to amplify it. As a result, the noise may grow into a roar and spontaneous separation will occur, separating through the use of a technique will be possible, or vibrations will occur. If no noise occurs over the course of 3 to 5 seconds, then the entire cycle should be repeated.

It is beneficial to examine the reason behind the use of a set of three indirect techniques. This is motivated by the fact that the body often reacts to techniques in very peculiar ways. With one person, a technique may work one day and not work on another day, which is why if only one technique is used, even a very good technique that works often, a practitioner can miss out on a lot of different experience through the lack of variety in practice. Thus, a practical repertoire should consist of several techniques.

3. Repeating the Cycle of Indirect Techniques

If the first cycle of 3 techniques does not yield any clear results, this does not mean that all is lost. Even if the techniques do not work, they still draw the practitioner closer to sleep paralysis and it is simply necessary to continue using the techniques by again observing pictures, phantom wiggling, and listening in and repeating this process at least three times.

Having performed one cycle of techniques, one can easily go on to doing a second cycle, a third one, a fourth one, and so on. It is quite probable that during one of these cycles, a technique will suddenly prove itself, even though it had not been working at all just a few seconds beforehand.

A serious practitioner should commit to a minimum of 4 cycles. The problem lies in the fact that it is psychologically difficult to do something that has shown itself not to work, and one may give up taking further action, even though one could be at the cusp of falling into sleep paralysis. Keep trying, and then try again, and again! There have been cases where it took twenty cycles to produce results. A monumental effort, yes, but one worth the outcome.

4. Falling Asleep with the Possibility of Trying Again.

If a practitioner is unable to enter sleep paralysis after performing cycles and attempts to separate, or even if everything worked out, it is still better to go back to sleep to facilitate subsequent attempts. Again, it is very important to go to sleep with a clearly defined intention of actually performing the cycles upon awakening. Such intention vastly increases the probability that the next attempt will occur soon. That is, one should not fall asleep with an empty head and the desire to simply get a good night’s sleep. If using the deferred method, then clear intention is mandatory, as several attempts are possible over the course of a sleep cycle.

Even if only a few attempts are made accompanied by decided and concentrated effort, then the four steps described in the algorithm will undoubtedly produce results. That’s how to induce sleep paralysis!

In order to more effectively use the system of indirect cycles, it is necessary to discuss what to do if one technique works and progress ceases during the cycle and sleep paralysis does not occur.

First, understand that if a technique has begun to work, only lack of experience and skill will prevent sleep paralysis.

Second, barriers are overcome by temporarily switching to other techniques. Let us suppose that noise arising when listening in grows louder and louder and then peaks in volume. It would surely be beneficial to switch to forced falling asleep or observing images for several seconds, and then return to listening in. The sound may then become much louder and provide an opportunity to proceed with the technique. Sometimes, it makes sense to break off several times into various techniques and then return to the primary technique that yielded some results.

It is often possible to simultaneously perform two or even three techniques and experience no negative effect to results. It is also normal and natural to skip around from technique to technique, deviating from a specific plan of action. For example, sounds often arise during phantom wiggling. In this case, a practitioner may just simply switch over to listening in. Other oft-encountered results pairings are: images from sound, sound from rotation, sound from straining the brain, a strain on the brain from listening in, vibrations from rotation, vibrations from phantom wiggling, and so forth.

During initial attempts at using cycles of indirect techniques, the problem of confusion during a critical moment may arise, when a novice practitioner suddenly forgets exactly what to do and how to do it. This is normal, and the solution is to immediately do whatever comes to mind. Results can be achieved in this manner. When a practitioner is more relaxed about the practice, such problems will no longer occur.

Hints From the Mind

Varied cycles of indirect techniques is an almost mandatory precondition for getting the best result. There are some exceptions. Sometimes, through indirect indicators, a practitioner may be inclined to begin with certain techniques, regardless of what had been planned. These are a sort of hint from the body and the ability to use such cues plays an extremely important role in the use of indirect techniques because they enable a practitioner to substantially increase the effectiveness of practice.

Hint No. 1: Images

If the practitioner becomes aware upon awakening that some images, pictures, or remnants from dreams are before him, then he should immediately proceed to the technique of observing images, with all of the results that arise from it. If this does not lead to anything, then cycling with a set of techniques should begin.

Hint No. 2: Noises

If the practitioner realizes upon awakening that he hears an internal noise, roaring, ringing, whistling, and so forth, then he should immediately begin from the technique of listening in. If this has no effect, then cycles of indirect techniques ought to commence.

Hint No. 3: Vibrations

If a practitioner feels vibrations throughout the body while awakening, they should be amplified through the use of straining the brain or straining the body without using muscles. When the vibrations reach their peak, the practitioner can try to separate. If nothing happens after several attempts, indirect technique cycles should start.

Hint No. 4: Numbness

If a practitioner wakes to numbness in a body part, phantom wiggling of that part should be attempted. If no result is achieved after several attempts, cycling should be tried. Of course, it is better to refrain from techniques if the numbness is very intense and causes substantial discomfort.